I was driving home from a work meeting and KyXy 96.5 played this song on the radio. It instantly brought me back to my last day of high school, at Marian Catholic.

On the last day of high school, I was sitting in religion class, at Marian Catholic High School. To be honest, the only thing that was going through my mind was SUMMER VACATION AND COLLEGE NOW YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! I couldn’t wait to be gone. Leave it to my religion teacher (Miss Lehnert, one of the most religiously open teachers I’ve ever had) to throw a monkey wrench into my plans of freedom, with a song that would change my life, and forever sear those last few moments with my classmates into my brain.

When Miss Lehnert played that song for everyone, she told us all to take one last look around the classroom, because after that moment, we’d all go our separate ways. As the song played, the guys just sorta scoffed and chilled. A bunch of the girls cried. Me? Shit, I started wondering if I’d live up to the song a few years from then.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distanceNever settle for the path of least resistanceLivin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’Lovin’ might be a mistake, but it’s worth makin’Don’t let some Hellbent heart leave you bitterWhen you come close to sellin’ out, reconsiderGive the heavens above more than just a passing glanceAnd when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?)

Right now, I can look back and say that the song did shape me into the person I am now. I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge, and people know that the some of the choices I’ve made have not been the best ones. But I’m still alive, kicking, breathing, punching, running, and living my life. And that’s what Miss Lehnert wanted us to do once we got out of high school. To live our lives to the fullest. Without regrets.